Three Fudge Recipes Reviewed Back-to-Back

After tossing out a batch of cloyingly sweet fudge this weekend, I decided to devote some time to finding a better recipe.

First, there was the old “Foolproof Chocolate Fudge” recipe made with chocolate chips and condensed milk. I’ve made that one for years, which is probably the reason I’m not very good at making real fudge. The condensed milk version is a cheat — good if you need something fast, but don’t bother serving it to real fudge lovers because people can usually tell it’s the “quick” kind. It’s heavy, needs chilling, and sometimes tastes like condensed milk. Given all that, I’d planned on eliminating condensed milk based fudge from my trials, but Louise told me about a Cooks Illustrated twist on the recipe. CI adds baking soda to get a stiffer, lighter texture more like the real stuff. They also make it less sweet by combining two types of chocolate.

So CI’s 15 Minute Walnut Fudge (aka “baking soda fudge”) was first on the list for testing this morning. It tasted good and the baking soda definitely made the texture a little drier and firmer, but I wasn’t in love with it. It still required refrigeration and it didn’t have the melt-in-your-mouth quality that makes fudge great.

The next recipe was Alton Brown’s Fudge. There were some discrepancies between the fudge he made on the show and the recipe that was posted on the Food TV website, so I just used the website version since a few others said it was fine. It’s a good recipe, but I had to make it twice because the first time it got too hot in my stainless steel saucepan. The second time, using a different saucepan, it was perfect; though I did add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt to Alton’s recipe. If you want to try a good homemade fudge recipe with no condensed milk or marshmallow crème, this is a good one to play with.

For the third fudge of the day, I decided to go with a really old fashioned recipe using cocoa powder and tried a classic Hershey’s fudge recipe someone posted on Recipezaar. Cocoa powder is less rich than actual chocolate and without any cream or half and half, my expectations for this fudge weren’t that high. Luckily, it exceeded them. This fudge was the real deal. I didn’t like it quite as much as Alton Brown’s fudge, but it had a light texture and rich chocolate flavor. Considering how much cheaper it is to make this fudge compared to the cheat fudge, it’s a recipe worth mastering.

So those were my three fudge trials for today. Several people swear by the marshmallow crème jar recipe “Fantasy Fudge” and I plan on trying that one next.

I make Fantasy Fudge every year for Xmas gifts. I use pecans (1 1/2 cups – we live in the Deep South), not walnuts, extra (real) vanilla (2 t), and semi-sweet chocolate chips (1 12oz package), not squares. I also add a generous pinch of salt because I think chocolate needs salt to set off the flavor. I set heat to about medium and melt butter in saucepan, add sugar and evaporated milk, stir until pot hits full boil and boil 5 minutes by the clock without stirring. I pull from fire at that point, add creme and chips, stir furiously until no white shows and chips are melted. Add vanilla (carefully as it does boil up when alcohol hits that hot mix) and nuts and stir to coat. Then, turn out into prepared pan. I need a big, solid wooden spoon for all the stirring as it is a good, solid mix, and a heat proof spatula for scraping pan. Your humidity may be lower than mine, as I am on the coast, so you may want go with 4 minutes, or check your time and temperature, so you would know next time.

Before I start, I open marshmallow creme jar, pull off paper, and put jar in small saucepan of water and put on stove eye on about medium low. This will soften creme while I boil up sugar mix, and when I add creme to the sugar mix, I hold the now very hot glass jar with folded dishcloth and creme scoops out easily with heat proof spatula into sugar mix. (I put empty jar into sink and pour hot water from pan into glass jar to sit and help clean out glass jar later.) Careful adding creme to sugar mix as it can kind of plop into sugar mix and splash.

I also prep and use a 9 x13 glass pan and use butter to grease it heavily. I don’t use square pan and I don’t use foil.

After I turn fudge out, I shake pan back and forth on counter to get the dribs and drabs to settle into the mix and not show up on the top of the candy. I also leave enough in the pan to turn out onto a salad plate and give to my tasters with saltines to see if the making is good! Get hot water in that empty pan asap because that will make your clean up easier, too.

Hi Anna! I have an OLD Hershey’s cookbook that has that cocoa fudge recipe and have always been curious about it!! I have only ever made fudge with marshmallow creme and as a kid loved it, now as an adult, I find it too sweet. So I am interested in what you think about the marshmallow stuff…and am excited to try the Hershey’s cocoa version!!

Kim, is that the Velveeta recipe? I think I tried that years ago and didn’t care for it — not sure it was Paula’s recipe, though.

Zanne, thanks for the great tips. I will print them out this weekend when I make the Fantasy Fudge.

Jennifer, all of the fudge I’ve been eating lately including the fudge at Disney World seems very sweet — not so sweet that I’d throw it out, like the batch I made this past weekend, but sweeter than I remember it as a kid. Maybe it’s just part of growing old. Things start tasting too sweet?

Dawn, thanks for validating the Alton recipe. I was really surprised my Hershey recipe turned out we well, but it did. Still, the Alton recipe was better.

I discovered the Hershey’s recipe once when had to make some fudge at midnight without going to the store, so I looked up something without any special ingredients. And I was so impressed that I’ve been making it for years. It’s not creamy like frosting as many fudges are; it’s more crumbly-melt-in-your-mouth that reminds you of old style recipes. But it’s not nearly as easy as the marshmallow creme kind (which usually resemble a frosting texture when they’re done).

Hi Anna, I just received my Fine Cooking magazine in the mail today, and there is an article about making fudge. I have been trying to make fudge for years. The Fantasy Fudge with marshmallow cream flopped pretty badly last year, I’m not sure why. I ended up tossing it. The texture was not good and it was super sweet. When we were kids we used to always try make fudge on New Years Eve with the Hershey’s cocoa. We did not have a candy thermometer, so we had to try to judge when it got to the “soft ball” stage. It always came out awful, very grainy, but, for some reason, that did not deter us from trying again the next year. It became the Holy Grail of our limited cooking experiences. My sister and I were reminiscing about that & we had a good laugh. I think I will take a look @ the Alton Brown recipe, and decide between that & the Fine Cooking one. Maybe this will be my year!

I remember you once wrote about another recipe–I think Rice Krispie treats–that had changed from the original incarnation. I wonder if fudge recipes as a whole have gotten sweeter, to suit people’s sweeter modern palates. It would be interesting to look at one from an old, old cookbook. But I too notice that my palate is also much less sweet (gasp) than it used to be. I haven’t had fudge in awhile, but I don’t remember it as sweet, rather as very dense and intense.

I have been busy at work so I haven’t been updating in awhile, but hopefully in the next week or so things will calm down.

The only time I’ve ever made fudge, I used Alton Brown’s recipe. It was very good and easy to make. I’d use it again, especially knowing you ranked it well in your taste test. Actually, I’ve seemed to have good outcomes with all of Alton’s recipes – he seems to know what he’s doing.

HeartofGlass — Be careful what you ask for. You want an old, old recipe. — from The Los Angeles Times Cookbook 1905 Fudge — Two Squares of Chocolate, 3 cups of sugar, butter size of a small egg, 1 1/2 cups of milk. Boil until it forms a waxy ball when dropped in cold water. Pour on platter, stir vigorously before it cools, till the grain is very fine, and then cut in squares. Mrs. J. S. Talcott, Tustin, Cal.

Great blog entry! I love the comparisons. I’m envious that you had the time to make these back to back. What a great way to compare.
I have a fudge recipe that I like from Williams Sonoma. It’s more of a milk chocolate fudge. It has toasted almonds. It ‘s really smooth, which is what we love about it, and doesn’t taste of sweetened condensed milk. At least not to us.
It calls for unsweetened chocolate, milk chocolate, vanilla, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, cream, butter and toasted almonds. I stopped trying other recipes after I found this one, but your post is enough to make me think I should try one of these recipes.
Sue

I’ve made the Fantasy Fudge for years — and my friends think I’m a ‘fudge goddess’ and ask for it on their birthdays, holidays, etc. I don’t even tell them how easy it is> Plus, the results are so consistent when I use a candy thermometer and watch it closely.

As a child my mother made the ‘real fudge’ in a big pot. I remember her rule to ‘never scrape down the sugar crystals on the side of the pan once it starts boiling.” (Or it would make the fudge granular. BUT, with the Fantasy Fudge recipe that old rule can be tossed out! Scarpe, stir all you want!

It says that fudge got its name because students in college used to make it in dorms, ‘fudging’ the rules about cooking. Students used to use more useful procrastination techniques in the 1880s I guess, than Beer Pong and making You Tube videos!

I grew up making the cocoa fudge. Once I tasted what is called Fantasy Fudge by most people, I was a convert. Now my niece asks for it every Christmas – I have to leave nuts out of half for her sister. If you think it’s too sweet, you can use bittersweet chips instead of semi-sweet.

Has anyone tried making chocolate fudge at high altitude? I wish I could make chocolate fudge but I can’t get it to come out right. I tried Alton Brown’s recipe but it tasted weird. I have made fantasy fudge but it comes out too hard and dry. I like fudge to be kind of soft and moist…I would appreciate any ideas…thanks!

FYI, a few years ago Kraft changed the fudge recipe printed on the jars of marshmallow creme. For decades it was Fantasy Fudge, then it became Creamy Fudge (which was a completely different recipe using different proportions of sugar, butter, and chocolate chips). I THINK that they’ve changed it back to the classic Fantasy Fudge, which is 3 cups sugar, 1-1/2 sticks of butter, a small can of evap. milk, 2 cups (12-oz. bag) of chips, et cetera.

I’ve used the Fantasy Fudge recipe for years to make various flavors. It’s never failed, has never been grainy, and I’ve never used a candy thermometer in it (just boil for 5 minutes, like the recipe says).

Dang, after reading all this, I want some good fudge!
Anna, I’d mentioned my mom’s recipe. I looked it over with the other recipes you tried and the others mentioned and it’s totally different. I thought it was cocoa, but it’s chips, but still a pretty frugal fudge. I’m curious about it now as I don’t really remember how it tasted and what the texture was like, but the thing I think is the strangest about it is that it has an egg. I guess after melting chocolate and butter, the egg is “cooked” because it is added to the hot chocolate mixture.
Anyway, here’s the recipe if you or anyone wants to try it.

I’m enjoying all these comments and thanks to all of you who’ve posted more recipes. I am gathering them up and will try themas well.

Deb, I hope someone chimes in to help you with the high altitude question. I believe someone mentioned that in the review section of the Food TV Alton Brown Fudge recipe. I’ve never had to cook or bake at high altitude, but I know a lot of my readers do it and make necessary adjustments.

Mary, Kraft did change it back and the proportions are the same as you posted. Now I just need to get some marshmallow creme.

Katrina, what an interesting recipe! I’ve seen lots of fudge recipes with powdered sugar, but never with an egg. I can tell you just summarized the directions, but I’ll look around and see if I can find a full version. It doesn’t say anything about heating over the stove, when to add the egg, how long to cook.

Deb — a reviewer on the Alton Brown Fudge recipe says ” if you live 1000 feet or more above sea level, you have to decrease the temperature of the fudge 2 degrees for every 1000ft. I live at 5,000 feet, so I pulled the fudge off the heat when it reached 225 degrees. I let it sit untouched until it reached about 115, then I added the butter and vanilla” — So the only change is that “soft ball” state happens sooner.

I actually just typed the recipe exactly as I copied it (YEARS AGO) from my mom’s recipe. But she may have copied it in short form. They way I wrote it here, is exactly how it’s written on my recipe card. I think I’ll try it, but may not get to it this weekend. I did google “fudge with egg” after I looked at mine last night and saw a few others. One was called Powdered Sugar Fudge. It was almost midnight, so I didn’t spend much time looking around.
Busy day today. Have fun Halloween-ing!

I always make marshmallow fluff fudge – and everybody loves it so much I just never bother with “real” fudge. I think my favorite variation is to cut the recipe in half at the melted stage, and make half with chocolate chips and half with pb chips, and then make a layered fudge. mmmm. That, and I make a recipe with Kahlua or other liqueur. I find it is not as sweet as some fudge. That said, it only takes a little square to satisfy!

Hello everyone, i’ve tasted the Disney chocolate fudge and i’m trying to make a similar one…does any of you know which recipe i should use in order to make it as similar as possible? thank you in advance!!

is there a recipe for chocolate fudge with the following 3 cups of sugar, 1 can of condensed milk, 1/2 cup of cocoa, a small jar of marshmellow cream, and vanilla. im pretty shure it has butter in it but not sure how much.. can some one help me?

Hi Penny,
I’d like to help you find that recipe. Does it really call for condensed milk or do you mean evaporated milk? At first I thought you might be thinking of Fantasy Fudge, but Fantasy Fudge is made with actual chocolate rather than cocoa powder. I did a little more searching and found this one from Hershey’s which has evaporated milk, cocoa powder and marshmallow creme. The proportions are different, but the ingredients are similar. Do you have any more clues that might help me find it such as where you first saw it? Was it from the back of a container? Sorry for all the questions, but now I am interested in your recipe.